Casella plunges, GSI Lumonics jumps

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Earnings Advisories

Shares of Casella Waste Systems
CWST, -5.99%
closed down 47 percent Friday after the company warned third- and fourth-quarter earnings will come in below the consensus estimates. On a pro forma basis, third-quarter earnings will be about $19.5 million, or 11 to 13 cents a share. The current consensus estimate on Wall Street is a profit of 23 cents a share. Fourth-quarter earnings will be about $27 million, or 15 cents a share. The company cited higher-than-projected interest costs from its new credit facility, the closure of the company's biomass generating facility due to bankruptcy of the facility's only customer and problems with its recently acquired KTI unit. Shares fell 6 9/16 to close at 7 3/8.

Shares of Tandy Brands Accessories
tbac
closed down 27 percent on the company's third-quarter earnings warning. The company said earnings will be between 5 to 12 cents a share while analysts currently expect a profit of 30 cents a share. Last year, the company earned 29 cents in the third quarter. Sales will be $32 to $37 million, down from the $38.2 million recorded last year. The company said sales were below internal estimates due to weak reorders which lead to higher-than-expected inventories. In addition, sales of accessories for women were slow. Shares fell 3 1/8 to close at 8 1/2.

Bebe Stores
BEBE, -0.83%
warned that same-store sales for the March quarter would come in slightly negative to flat due partly to a shift in the Easter holiday to late April. The women's clothing company said comparable-store sales for the 22 days ending on Feb. 22 were flat. Shares fell 2 1/16 to close at 10 3/4. See full story.

Positive surprises

GSI Lumonics Inc.
gsli
shares jumped 29 percent after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, citing diversified revenue growth. Net income came in at $4.2 million, or 12 cents a share, 5 cents ahead of the consensus estimate. Sales hit $88.7 million.The gross profit margin came in at 39 percent. GSI Lumonics was formed March 22, 1999 as a result of a merger between General Scanning and Lumonics. Shares rose 4 15/16 to close at 22 1/16.

Semtech
SMTC, -2.00%
reported fourth-quarter sales of $55.4 million, with net income of $10.5 million, or 29 cents a share. Analysts polled by First Call expected a profit of 27 cents a share. Profit for the quarter came in 157 percent higher than last year's profit of $4.1 million, or 12 cents a share. Shares of the analog and mixed-signal circuits manufacturer fell 11 1/4 to 64 5/8.

Puma Technology
PUMA, +0.00%
followed up with its own better-than-expected report. The company posted a second-quarter pro forma loss of 2 cents a share, with revenue totaling $7 million. Analysts expected a loss of 7 cents a share. Second-quarter revenue rose 48 percent over last year when the company posted a 15-cent loss per share. The software infrastructure company saw shares trade up 26 9/16 to 162 9/16.

ClickAction
CLAC, +0.00%
reported a narrower-than-expected loss as sales from its e-mail marketing unit tripled. The online company said it lost $1.5 million, or 27 cents per share. That's 3 cents narrower than the 30-cents-a-share loss that analysts polled by First Call expected. In the same quarter last year, ClickAction earned $255,000, or 5 cents per share. Shares closed up 3/8 to 39 7/8.

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